


we're not kids anymore

by estir



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slightly Introspective, one day I'll get better at dialogue, sormikweek day 02: loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 12:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15707202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estir/pseuds/estir
Summary: “I… I know that I worry Mikleo. And I don’t want him to worry, but…”





	we're not kids anymore

“Do you mind if I join you, Sorey?”

The night sky in Rolance is hazed over with gray clouds. The atmosphere is heavy with humidity, but the sky isn’t heavy enough to allow for any much-needed rain. Dull yellow street lamps cast an eerie haze over the capital, across lower-hanging fingers of sky. The contrast is more apparent in the skyline park, where Sorey is entangled in the ironwork railing. His heavy leather boots clatter against polished brick as he kicks his feet to and fro over the gap. Beads clatter with the movements, a rhythmic chime against the subdued night.

He smiles at the question, but Lailah has been travelling at his side long enough to know it’s fake.

“Of course, Lailah! I hope I didn’t wake you all,” he grimaces, but leans back on his hands to stare at the sky once she’s settled in next to him. Lailah takes the small moment to tuck her legs underneath her dress, to pull her long silver hair into her lap. She consciously leans toward Sorey, but there’s still a breath of cool night air between them.

“No, not at all. The others are still sound asleep, and I felt some meditation might be a good idea. I’m very happy to have your company,” she says. Their eyes meet softly, and when she smiles, she doesn’t hold anything back.

“I’m happy for your esteemed company as well, Lady Lailah!” Sorey laughs easily, “I guess I was starting to feel a little small, all by myself out here.”

“I guess it’s not too often that you’re alone, huh?”

She means it as a joke, but as soon as the pause drags on too long, her smile disappears.

“Sorey?” she reaches toward his vacant stare, but her hand wavers midair without touching him. He seems to blink back to himself, glancing from her to her outstretched hand, and he offers a small smirk.

“Ah, sorry, I was just thinking,” Sorey starts, his voice falling to something more subdued, “that other humans see me travelling around, and they assume I’m alone. I’ve noticed their sympathy in the looks they give me, sometimes.”

He draws a deep breath and looks back out at the sky. Lailah keeps her attention fixed on his expression as he continues, solemnly.

“But the truth is that you’re all here with me. I’ve always been surrounded by people, whether it be the village that raised me or you and the other Sub-Lords. I’ve never really had to face true loneliness, not really…”

He blinks, throws his hands up to backtrack, “That’s not to say it’s always been inclusion or belonging! I had to reconcile a lot, being the only human in a village of seraphim. I’ve been lonely at times, but I haven’t felt–”

He pauses, grimaces, and after a moment of thought, drops his hands to his lap, “I’m not burdened with the weight of a loneliness that others assume I carry, if that makes sense.”

Lailah hums. Her hand pulls back to hold her own jaw, her expression turning down in thought.

“Does that make you feel dishonest?”

“Oh,” Sorey startles, finally looking at Lailah, “In the moment, I guess I do. That’s a good way to phrase it, thanks Lailah.”

His lips part as he looks away, and Lailah catches on to the unspoken stutter.

“But there’s something else that bothers you?” she prompts, and although Sorey isn’t looking at her directly, his face lights up in a sheepish smile.

“I… I know that I worry Mikleo. And I don’t want him to worry, but…”

Lailah holds her tongue and waits, her breath but a whisper in the night while Sorey puzzles out the words to describe the insurmountable emotion raging through him.

“Elysia has always felt like one large family to me,” he says, words spewing faster as he goes, “They always accepted me, despite my human-ness. They loved me like their own, and I was always the exception to their cautionary tales of humanity. I was their beloved human. I am their child, no matter my race, no matter that I can create malevolence by nature. They were my uncles, my sisters, my Gramps, but Mikleo…”

His breath hitches.

“Mikleo has always been special. He’s my one and only… I’m so…”

Watery green eyes find Lailah’s gaze, and they shine through a crooked smile more beautiful than she had ever seen before.

“I don’t want him to worry about me so much, but I’m so hopelessly in love with him, Lailah.”

His fist rubs at his face, clearing tears away before they can fall.

“I love him, but I’m only human.”

His breath hitches, and a few tears stain his reddening face.

“I love Mikleo, and I don’t want him to be alone when I’m gone.”

She draws his head into her shoulder softly but swiftly. Sorey's silent sobs stain her shoulders wet, but she keeps her hold firm. Her eyes cast across the park, across the steadily clearing night sky, unseeing.

"You've already told him, haven't you?" she whispers into the golden feathers adorning his red ears. It's intuition, at this point, that drives her to ask. And as soon as the words leave her lips, she knows that it's true. She's seen the way they look at each other. She's been one of the more vocal to tease them about their blundering feelings. Suddenly it all feels a bit childish, despite her many many years. The words Sorey uses and the casual way he tries to skirt around the issue-- it all seems too obvious here, in stark hindsight.

Sorey chokes a bit, but nods into the crook of her neck.

Lailah bites her lip, "And he loves you too, doesn't he?"

That pulls a harsh laugh, coughed and sputtering a bit from Sorey's soul. It's assured and a little self-deprecating, a little self-loathing, and even though this isn't the first time Lailah has heard it, she still hurts at the sound.

"Yeah," he almost whines when breath returns to him again, "Yeah, he loves me, too."

The smile hurts a little, but she pulls it off anyway as she gently brushes Sorey's wild brown hair, "And if I know Mikleo, he also told you that things would be alright?"

Sorey leans into her comforting touch and sniffles out a nod.

"And you trust him, right?" she says, just to be sure.

"I do," Sorey whispers, words carrying through the night like white doves set free at last.

The smile doesn't hurt as much any more, "Do you believe that everything will be alright?"

He finally pulls out of her hug, but he doesn't stray far from her reach. His cloak is a little wrinkled, as she's sure her dress is, but the brightening smile on his face puts even the brightest stars peeking through the clouds to utter shame.

"I do. Thank you, Lailah."

And in that moment, she believes it without a doubt; everything will surely be alright.


End file.
